OTHER PERFORMANCES
October 10, 2010 at West Texas A&M University Canyon, TX October 3, 2011 at The University of North Texas Denton, TX October 26, 2012 at LaTEX (Louisiana State University) Baton Rouge, LA September 19, 2015 “Transformations” (with the Equinox New Music Collective) Midland, TX October 18, 2015 at Texas Tech University Lubbock, TX |
Sommerliches Dreieck (2009)
PREMIERE November 17, 2009 at West Texas A&M University Canyon, TX DURATION 10' PROGRAM NOTES Sommerliches Dreieck (The Summer Triangle) is a three movement work centered on the natural occurrence of a bright triangle in the night sky during the summer months in the northern hemisphere. Because it is not its own constellation, each point of the triangle is a star that belongs to its own figure in modern astronomy. Consequently, each movement represents one of those three different constellations. Lyra is a picture of the lyre, a traditional stringed musical instrument. The most famous player of the lyre in Greek mythology is Orpheus. Upon his death, his lyre was thrown into the river, but Zeus retrieved the instrument, and had both Orpheus and the lyre placed in the night sky. This movement conveys virtuosic playing of the lyre as Orpheus was well known for. When Orpheus was placed in the night sky, he was transformed into a swan, hence, the constellation Cygnus. Traditional beliefs state that a mute swan is indeed mute during its life until the final moments before its death during which it will sing a beautiful song. The movement Cygnus is meant to emulate a lament on the passing of Orpheus. Aquila is the name of the constellation representing the eagle that carried the lightening bolts of Zeus across the sky to their unlucky receiver. The movement is made to represent a day in the life of the bird, starting from the early morning with dew still on the leaves, to the climax of the day during which Zeus sends Aquila on an errand with a bolt, and ending with the setting of the sun. Incidentally, Zeus sent an eagle, perhaps Aquila, to retrieve Orpheus and the lyre to position them forever in the heavens. |